Attending the first offline FFXIV event

Now that all those boring game facts are out of the way, we can discuss Eorzea Prelive — the event!  Part 2 of our Eorzea Prelive coverage explores the journey, the set up and a behind-the-scenes look at the extravaganza itself.

Eorzea PreLive was held in Yebisu Garden Place, located in Yebisu, which is itself located in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo.  To cite Wikipedia:

Ebisu was founded around 1928 as a community developed around the Japan Beer Brewery Company facilities where Yebisu Garden Place now stands. Yebisu Beer, named for Ebisu, one of the Japanese Seven Gods of Fortune, was introduced in 1890 by Japan Beer and has long been a local favorite. The area adopted its name from the train station built in 1901 by the company to facilitate distribution of its beer. Japan Beer has since reorganized and was renamed Sapporo Breweries Ltd. After the breweries were moved to Chiba in 1988, the area was redeveloped as the Yebisu Garden Place, which opened to the public in 1994.

**Quick note: For the town and its locations, I’m going to use the traditional spelling, “Yebisu” as it was the spelling used on all the signs, buildings, etc.

As mentioned above, Ebisu is one of the Seven Gods of Fortune.  Ebisu brings fortune to fishers and merchants, which makes this town an appropriate location for launching a new game, especially one in which Square Enix is so invested.  On a coincidental note, the timing works well too.  In Japan, days are given one of six rankings based on how lucky they are — sort of like a daily horoscope that applies to everyone.  Nowadays, it is somewhat of an archaic notion, mostly referenced when planning weddings or funerals. Still, this ranking is listed on some calendars or daily planners you can purchase.  One of my more superstitious clients actually ran white out through the entirety of his planner just so he did not have to always be worrying how unlucky a day might be.

The day on which this event was held (the 14th) was a day of trials.  It’s a day where friends come together to get through hardships, with the evening being an especially fortuitous time.  This seems to have worked out well, as the developers really pulled off a great initial event for their new MMO, and already forums are reflecting a renewed excitement about the game.  Then again, the Collector’s Edition releases on the 22nd, which this month is butsu-metsu, the unluckiest day of them all.  So what do I know…

Yebisu Garden Place feels almost like a theme park.  Everything looks very clean and new, and there are many different places to shop and eat.  It is also very close to the station and is connected via 5-minute stroll down the Ebisu Sky Walk, which is an overpass with moving sidewalks.  The atmosphere was very relaxed, though the weather was somewhat finicky.  I was able to get some good shots in when I first arrived, but it began to rain soon after and I had to take cover inside Yebisu Garden Place Tower at location K. The Garden Hall where the event took place is at location J.

Yebisu Garden Place Tower went up about 40 floors and had viewing windows set up for tourists.  It is well known how tight and cramped Japan can be, especially in urban areas.  One of Japan’s most interesting traits, however, is how stark the contrast can be between these densely packed cities and the little recreational areas tucked away inside them.  A walk through any major town or city can reveal peaceful little playgrounds or shrines that feel like a whole other world compared with the hectic areas that surround them.  Located in the heart of Tokyo, Yebisu looks as any urban environment would, but as the pictures up at the top of the article and immediately below show…

…the Garden Place fits neatly inside while still maintaining a unique feel all its own.  By the way, the picture on the right is facing the Garden Hall where Eorzea Prelive was held.

Outside, there was a statue of some guy giving an “Adventure, ho!” pose. Well, let’s follow him inside…

A placard at the doors identified this as an event to announce the completion of FFXIV.  A giant FFXIV logo spread behind the check-in counter.  Things were a little quiet since the event was not set to begin for another 5 hours…

…but some people had been here already.  Two massive flower bouquets had been delivered by Square Enix BFFs Enterbrain and Hakuhoudou.  Enterbrain (left) is a company that publishes gaming magazines, such as Weekly Famitsu and Connect!On.  They also publish Vana’diel Tsuushin, dedicated to FFXI content; and soon, Eorzea Tsuushin, which will be dedicated to FFXIV content.  Hakuhoudou (right) is a large advertising agency in Japan.

Around 5 o’clock, the staff began allowing press in the doors and up to the auditorium.  The elevator had the third floor marked with a FFXIV sticker which was cute, but there were staff on-hand to press the right button for us anyway.  In true geek fashion, I asked the operator if I could snap a quick picture of the elevator button; he chuckled and said it was OK.

As you can see above, the elevator opened up into a room filled with PCs.  They were all running FFXIV and were open for press and fans alike to tinker with.  By this point, most press had seen several versions of the game already, and the 350 fans in attendance were all participating in the beta.  As a result, most people just milled around the area, and the demos did not draw all that much attention.  At least not compared to what else was on display…

All around the PC room, Square Enix set up displays for top-of-the-line merchandise provided by various sponsors. It was like that scene out of Spaceballs:  Merchandising — where the real money is made.  Final Fantasy XIV: The Keyboard, Final Fantasy XIV: The Mouse, Final Fantasy XIV: The USB Controller, Final Fantasy XIV: The PC Speakers, Final Fantasy XIV: The Graphics Card, Final Fantasy XIV: The Wireless Router… oh, and don’t forget the thumb drives they gave out in the press kit.  Imagine someone using all of these at once; I’d like to see a picture of that.  I guess it’s no mystery why the PlayStation 3 version is delayed until March, though.  With the console version, you just pop in the disc and go.  Want the true FFXIV experience on the PC?  Step right up and empty your bank account.  Oh well, enough conspiracy theories, let’s drool over more geek crap.

And what computer powerful enough to destroy mankind would be complete without the perfect case to house all this destructive power?

The above Final Fanta-gasm is a Cooler Master ATCS840 equipped with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 SLI card.  The design on the side is by FFXIV illustrator Akihiko Yoshida.  According to the sign, the case is still in development and may change before release.  If all this was not cool enough, there are still two more displays to check out!

The FFXIV Collector’s Edition, in all its glory. Some of the special goodies it comes packaged with that we can see here are the behind-the-scenes DVD, FFXIV–branded Security Token, travel journal “filled with pages of never-before-seen concept art,” the beautifully illustrated Yoshitaka Amano box cover, and the leather Adventurer’s Tumbler.

Neighboring the Collector’s Edition display was another case with the upcoming Battle Tracks and Field Tracks CDs.  These come with about nine tracks each and are bundled with maps and booklets.  Here’s a previous article with more information and a statement from the composer, Nobuo Uematsu.  Some tracks can even be previewed on their official site as well.

OK, I think it is just about time to head in for the Prelive event — easy to forget such a trivial thing with all these exciting products ripe for the gawking.  We already covered most of the information earlier today, courtesy of Square Enix.  I want to give them another hat tip for getting together such a thorough summary for overseas players quickly.  The Twitter account was not very detailed, and the reception (not to mention picture-taking) kept me from helping out during the Live Feed — sorry about that.

Before settling in for the show, I was contacted by Global Online Producer Sage Sundi through Twitter, of all places.  He wanted to catch up and say hello.  Until then, I had only read or listened to interviews of him online and translated the contents.  It was a pleasant bonus getting to meet him, and right off the bat he was very friendly.  Not to mention, living in Japan all this time, I was impressed by how well he handled the English language.

During the fatigue debacle, Sage Sundi had opened up a little on Twitter and posted that he had always hoped to serve as an example of cultures working together effectively.  However, with the controversy about fatigue raging, he felt that our goals and ways of thinking just might be too different sometimes.  He comes across as someone serious about crossing the cultural boundaries we, as players, smack into day after day.  Funnily enough, he has become somewhat of an icon in NA player culture, being featured in many game-related memes and photoshops.  Hopefully, cross-cultural communication is something we can help tackle as the game evolves.

Anyway, let’s head into the auditorium.

SE gives users a glimpse of bonus items

From the completion of all worlds maintenance which is scheduled to end on Sep. 15, 2010 at approximately 1:00 to Sep. 16, 2010 1:00 (PDT), an event will be held in which users can try out the in-game bonus items that will be implemented in the official release of the game.
The event will be held in the Karnak world, which can be accessed once the event begins. If you create a new character in the Karnak world, you will start out with an “Onion Helm” and “Asuran Armguards.” Feel free to create a new character and test out these items.
We may add other worlds and hold similar events depending on circumstances.
However, please be aware that character names from the Karnak world and other worlds added for events will not be carried over to the official release of the game and the worlds will be closed down once the event is over.
*Event completion time may be subject to change.
* Please be advised that the bonus in-game items that you receive during this event will have no impact on the actual bonus in-game items that you may receive for the official release.

The 1980s is Alive and Well in FFXIV Quest Titles.

Apparently not everything about Final Fantasy XIV is serious business.
Upon reviewing the Guildleves in our database, we couldn’t help but notice the number of pop-culture references embedded in the quest names. Some of the references are obvious – others, not so much. Also interesting is that nearly half of these references refer to songs, movies and games from the 1980s. That’s probably an indication of Square Enix’s target demographic as well as the ages of the company’s writers.
Here are just a few Guildleves named after pop-culture references – do you know where they’re from?
• Get to the Copper
• When Bats Cry
• Light for the Rites

The Special Talk Session featured a panel of the following FINAL FANTASY XIV Development Team members:

Producer, Hiromichi Tanaka

Director, Nobuaki Komoto

Battle Director, Atsushi Okada

Main Scenario Writer, Yaeko Sato

World Concept Planner, Kenichi Iwao

Level Designer, Yusuke Kigoshi

The following topics were addressed:

Battle System, World Concept, Economy, Guildleves

(Announced features are still under development, and may change before and after release)

The World of FINAL FANTASY XIV

FINAL FANTASY XIV takes place on the world of Hydaelyn, a planet much like another you all may be familiar with. Many of the people on Hydaelyn do not actually use the word ‘Hydaelyn,’ for to understand the concept of a planet, one must first know of other worlds, and most on Hydaelyn do not.

FINAL FANTASY XIV takes place in a realm known as Eorzea.

* Eorzea is one of three continents that make up a giant land mass.

* Eorzea consists of Aldenard and its surrounding islands.

* Aldenard is connected to the land mass containing the other two continents via a land bridge,

* Eorzea contains several independently governed city-states, like those found in ancient Greece.

* And just like those in Greece, the ones in Eorzea have a long history of war and alliances.

* The few that have lasted longest are the thalassocracy of Limsa Lominsa, the commercial sultanate of Ul’dah, and the forest city-state of Gridania, which some users have commented reminds them of an ancient Japanese polis.

* However, the powerful and aggressive Garlean Empire has begun their slow advance on the city-states, making the current situation in Eorzea similar to the months before the Persian Empire marched on Greece.

City-state Scenarios

[ Limsa Lominsa ]

Limsa Lominsa is a sprawling port city ruled by pirates and brigands. After the appearance of the legendary island “Swallowtail Roam,” a battle begins brewing over a treasure found there, and the player gets caught up in the action. Into whose hands will the treasure fall?

Main NPCs

Y’shtola

* Appears in the opening cutscene.

* Her origins are unknown.

Carvallain & Rhoswen

* Carvallain is cunning and cool-headed.

* Rhoswen is hot-blooded and ruthless.

* Both are captains of powerful pirate crews, and both hate the other.

Wawalago

* Guildmaster of Wawalago’s Pullers─the Fishermen’s Guild.

* An eccentric and lewd old man who uses the player to his advantage.

[ Gridania ]

The player angers the forest and travels to Gridania to remove his woodsin. There the player gets caught up in the story of a boy named Khrimm who insists elementals─beings thought to rule the wood─and sets out to find the truth. Will his findings overturn the beliefs of all Gridanians?

Main NPCs

Yda & Papalymo

* Appear in the opening cutscene.

* For some reason, Yda hides her face behind a mask.

* Both Yda and Papalymo’s origins are unknown.

E-Sumi-Yan

* Appears in the opening cutscene

* Is one of the most powerful conjurers in Gridania

* Is of a strange race known as the Padjal

Moogles

* A race rare in Hydaelyn.

* Assist the five races in their communication with the elementals

Lewein

* Leader of the Gods’ Quiver (the Archers’ Guild)

* Through events in this guild, the player learns of the beast tribe known as the Ixal.

[ Ul’dah ]

The player is caught up in a terrible accident during a city-wide parade. One of the people who perish in this accident was carrying a terrible warning to Ul’dah. To learn of this warning, there are those who would seek forbidden magicks to allow them to speak with the dead…

Main NPCs

Thancred.

* Appears in the opening cutscene

* Is a talented bard of unknown origin

Niellefresne

* Appears in the opening cutscene.

* Is a goldsmith from Esthaime’s Aesthetics (Goldsmiths’ Guild)

Titinin

* Helps run the Platinum Mirage casino

* Is polite, yet stern.

* Appears in the Pugilist class quests

Nenekko

* Lovable daughter of the owner of Amajina & Sons Minreal Concern

* Is smothered in affection by her family

[ Ishgard ]

The Knights of Ishgard are fighting a holy war with an ancient race of dragons, and are currently refusing contact with those they call ‘unbelievers.’ These defenders of the mountain realm appear in several different quest lines.

[ Guilds ]

* Not all guilds are found in each city-state.

* Class Quests can be performed by joining guilds and fulfilling certain prerequisites.

* Class quests will not only earn players rewards, but through their stories, players can also learn more about each individual city-state.

* In addition to regular rewards, completing these quests will earn players guild marks which can be used to purchase special items from that guild.

* More items will be made available for exchange in the near future.

[ Other ]

* Unlike the starting rings in FINAL FANTASY XI, there will not be any equipment that is received by choosing a certain race in a certain city-state.

* The scenarios have been designed so that most can be completed by solo players or, at the most, by small groups.

Battle

Enmity in Party Battles

For Open Beta we adjusted the amount of enmity received when using magic and abilities. However, we are not yet done, and will continue making adjustments up through and after the game’s release. We realize adding new quests, equipment, abilities, monsters, etc will directly affect the current balance, and therefore will continue making adjustments throughout the course of the game’s lifespan.

Recovering MP

Our original plan was to make MP management an important factor in the game, and we designed the game so players would have to carefully consider when and where to use MP. Rather than having weak spells that can be used over and over for minimal damage, we wanted to make magic powerful─something that delivers a single strike of massive damage and can instantly change the tide of a battle.

While maintaining this concept we will not only be conducting adjustments on existing methods to refresh MP (such as Aetheryte, abilities, and magic spells), but also plan on adding new methods.

Battle Regimens

Battle regimens work to broaden battle strategies for parties, as well as make it easier to form parties. Unlike the skillchains of FINAL FANTASY XIV, battle regimens are not only for dealing damage, but also can be used to produce the following effects:

* Lowers a target’s physical defense (normal attack -> normal attack)

* Lowers a target’s magic defense (normal attack -> magic attack)

* Increases a target’s casting time/raises MP costs (normal attack -> magic spell)

* Lowers a target’s TP progression/raises TP costs (normal attack -> weaponskill)

* Maintains the effectiveness of class abilities when used by different classes

(magic spell -> magic spell (both from same class))

(weaponskill -> weaponskill (both from same class))

* Increases player damage

(weaponskill -> weaponskill -> magic spell (weaponskills from different classes, finishing spell is optional))

(magic spell -> magic spell -> weaponskill (spells from different classes, finishing weaponskill is optional))

For example, when fighting a monster that has high physical defense, a regimen which will lower that defense is effective. On the other hand, when fighting a monster that uses magic attacks, a regimen that slows casting time and increases MP cost is recommended.

Part Damage

On some monsters, players will be able to damage individual parts such as arms and legs. For example, vines can be cut from morbols, and horns and tails can be struck from monsters that have them Parts can be damaged by using certain weaponskills while standing in certain positions.

The effect will not only be visual, but will accomplish the following:

* Weaken the monster

* Prevent the monster from using its special attacks

* Allow the player to obtain the damaged part

Notorious Monsters

* Soon Notorious Monsters will make their appearance in FFXIV.

* Most will appear different from regular monsters.

* Some are so large they will make regular morbols seem small.

Post-Release

In addition to what was announced here today, we are also planning massively multiplayer battles.

There currently exist several class abilities which may have players scratching their heads as to how they are to be used. Many of these were designed with PVP in mind. While we cannot reveal much regarding PvP now, we have some exciting announcements planned for the near future.

Crafting and the World Economy

Concept

In MMOs, we realize that crafting and the world economy are both extremely important gameplay aspects. This is why we went out of our way to make independent crafting classes rather than simply have crafting skills attached to other classes. We have designed a system that will allow players to feel like their actions (crafting, gathering, buying & selling through bazaars) are directly affecting the economy.

The Effect of Player Status on Crafting & Gathering

A player’s physical and elemental statuses greatly affect crafting and gathering. There are many hints within the game that reveal which statuses affect which aspects.

[ Crafting ]

Attributes: Works in conjunction with the type of tool used to affect synthesis quality

Elemental: Affects the occurrence rate of “god sends,” as well as synthesis stability

[ Gathering ]

Physical: Affects the number of items harvested, as well as the drop rate

Elemental: Affects the type of crystals that can be obtained during gathering

Parley

Parley is a method other than battle in which players can obtain items. Players choose ‘topics’ and then play a game using painted tiles. If you defeat your NPC opponent, you earn the right to exchange the items you have for those you need. If you do especially well, you can obtain even greater rewards.

Market Wards

We do not want the extent of a Disciple of the Hand/Land’s stay in Eorzea to be about simply putting the items he creates/gathers up for auction, which is why we have envisioned a bazaar-driven economy in which players can be creative in the methods they use to sell their wares. To better achieve this, we are currently working on ways to increase a players’ ease of using the markets by adding additional features, as well as tweaking existing ones.

Retainers

We are aware of the amount of time it took to buy items from retainers, and so we have been working diligently to make this system quicker and smoother by the time of release. Also, we are looking into ways to make it easier for players to buy and sell items through retainers.

Inventory Response Time

We are fully aware that inventory interface response speed needs to be improved.

At the time of release, we hope to have made significant improvement, and plan to continue our work after release as well.

Guildleves

Open Beta GLs

First, we would like to apologize to all of the Open Beta testers for the frequent client side errors that occurred during levequests. We are working hard to make sure all the problems are solved by the time the game is officially released.

Retrying Levequests

Levequest targets give players many times more EXP and skill points than normal monsters (even if not using guardian aspect). To prevent some players from taking advantage of this system by completing most of a levequest, failing on purpose, and then trying the quest again immediately, we have made it impossible to retry a levequest immediately after failing it. However, this does not mean players are not allowed to retry levequests. By returning and talking to the NPC who issued the quest, players can gain the opportunity to retry the quest objectives.

Guildleve Issuing

Currently, players must wait 2 earth days before being reissued a leve. However, we planning a significant reduction in this wait.

In conjunction with this change, we will also be shortening the amount of time anima takes to recharge.

Guildleves have been designed with several different features that allow for players to cooperate with others to complete the corresponding quests. For example, ‘leve linking’ allows two players with the same leve to join their guildleves to receive a reward bonus. ‘Leve sharing’ allows people without a leve to participate in a party with a person who does.

The level recommendations on guildleves are a loose guideline for solo players. We encourage players looking for a challenge to join up with other adventurers and try their hands at more difficult leves.

The Future of Guildleves

We are planning the implementation of many different types of guildleves in the near future.

First, several high-level leves will be introduced. Among those will be leves with not only new rules, but new monsters and new operation locations. Also, to answer the demand from our players, we will be introducing guildleve-based NM battles shortly.

We also ask that our players try out the Faction Leves that were introduced in Open Beta and are only accessible by special means. These leves are different from regular ones, and often involve exciting battles and interactions with NPCs. The rewards are also much better.

In addition, we are currently working on several new ideas such as leves in which Disciples of the Land and Hand must cooperate with Disciples of War and Magic to complete certain tasks.

The following is a list of some of the things we have planned for the upcoming release:

* Implementation of a hardware mouse feature

* Introduction of discounted monthly fee payment plans (3-month plan in Japan/ 3 and 6 month plans in North America and Europe)

* Raising of the level cap to 50

* Adjustment of the Armoury System UI so player abilities will not reset when changing classes.

Fully Voiced Opening Trailer

Straight from today’s Prelive show in Japan, Square Enix unveils it’s new, full lengh, fully voiced cinematic trailer!